My GAPS Experience for Panic Disorder & GAPS Radio Interview

Over the last year I’ve been on the GAPS protocol created by Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride. GAPS is a healing protocol developed to correct digestive compromise and nutritional deficiencies in the body as a result of poor lifestyle and dietary habits. Last January, I started experiencing terrible panic-like symptoms that were keeping me awake at night.

This went on for over 3 months, and I was a complete wreck. I tried everything I could think of to stop these symptoms from happening which included a racing heart, constant jitters or feeling of internal shaking, extreme fatigue, and pretty constant thoughts of doom and sadness, diarrhea, chills, and difficulty breathing.

Throughout my life I’ve had chronic insomnia and panic disorder symptoms, which I later learned were signs of my overall health issues. I spent many years going to doctors and being told nothing was wrong and advised to to go on anti-anxiety medication. I was always terrified to take prescriptions given to me because I worried about becoming dependent on them, side effects…and of course, my biggest fear was that my problem wouldn’t be resolved.

Last year, I consulted with many different people and practitioners, and got a lot of different opinions. One person told me I was suffering from heavy metal issues, another from thyroid problems. I also had some conversations long-distance and online with a few friends to whom I am forever grateful for their balanced advice and suggestions. My level of sanity during those months was very much on the edge and I appreciate those who reached out to help me during that time. I am especially grateful to those who reinforced what I already knew – that I should be using food to heal myself and cut way back on supplements. It was difficult at best for me to think clearly during this time. My body was so frazzled and I was so stressed out, I couldn’t reason and rationalize things normally.

I thought my diet was healthy because I wasn’t eating processed foods and was eating traditional, real foods every day. What I didn’t take into account was that our family has been under enormous stress over the last 3 years, which had a profoundly negative effect on my health. In 2009, my husband was laid off from his programming job and we decided to take our retirement money to open a solar business. The business was my husband’s dream, and we both really wanted it to succeed.

Unfortunately, with the economy being what it has for the last 5 years and the poor climate for renewable energy in our state ( ID), life had other ideas for us. As a result, we closed our business down last year. This caused me to be in an almost constant state of stress and worry. That’s no way to live, but we were constantly having to watch every penny we spent, and the debt we were trying to pay down looked like it would never get there. Looking back I can see this has had an enormous impact on my health and ability to retain nutrients from the nourishing foods I’ve eaten over the last 7+ years when I initially changed my diet.

What GAPS did for me

Within 5 days of starting GAPS, I was getting more sleep than I had in months. Within about 6 weeks, I was sleeping through the night again, without interruption. I’ve never had such noticeable and dramatic results with anything else I’ve ever done.

It has become very clear to me that the answer for health problems is not in supplements – and certainly not medications – but in a real food diet, stress management, getting out in the sunshine and adequate rest. Nothing is ever caused by just one factor, it’s always from many different things going on around us.

It’s also true that since most people have digestive issues, this is really the root of most health problems. Because most people can’t digest the food they eat – even if it is healthy – this presents a challenge in trying to overcome health problems for almost everyone.

Do supplements work?

I took a lot of supplements for many years. Supplements are not always accepted by the body, and are often hard to absorb. They also contain many fillers and extra ingredients that can be toxic. I’m not saying all supplements are harmful, but if you use them, you should be very certain that you are eating the healthiest diet possible. Sometimes even with a healthy diet, because of soil depletion and chemicals in the environment and our food, even this might not solve the problem.

Deep down I knew nutrients are made bio-available in the GAPS protocol. And I knew I was depleted in many different aspects, and thought that by mega-dosing on high quality supplements I’d be doing myself a favor. After all, I did this some years ago and it seemed to help tremendously.

The supplements I was taking didn’t do the job this time. As it turned out, I wasn’t even absorbing the fermented cod liver oil I had been taking for over a year. My digestion was not in good enough shape to accomplish this. Dr. McBride talks about taking supplements in liquid form as one of the best choices, and I agree. I took a liquid multi-vitamin supplement about 6 5 years ago for over a year, and I do think it made a difference in my health. Liquid nutrients from real food can be highly absorbed, and some products are highly concentrated enough to provide what you need if you are depleted.

You should definitely be careful about what you take, if anything. Many products claim to be potent, safe, easy to absorb, and high quality. From my experience, taking a lot of supplements can cause liver toxicity and can be too much for the body, and won’t solve your deficiency problem on its own. I have learned that liquid supplements are some of the most effective because they absorb well.

One of the best products I’ve ever used is called Eniva, a concentrated, whole-food liquid supplement that is non-GMO, not pasteurized, irradiated, nor treated with any chemicals or pesticides. I’m only recommending this because I took it for over a year’s time and it did make a big difference in my health (during 2007-2008), and because it’s comprised only of real food. If you need something extra and you haven’t had luck with juicing (as recommended by Dr. Natasha’s protocol in her book), give this product a try. There is Eniva Vibe for adults and Eniva Vibe Kids.

This is why GAPS is important and why it works. It provides the necessary nutrients needed by the body, and in the most digestible format possible: through broths, cultured and fermented foods and beverages, juicing, healthy fats, and well-cooked vegetables and meats.

My GAPS/Weston A. Price interview

Earlier this year I was asked to do an interview with my friend Kim Metez who runs a weekly show on Radio Boise, a local, independent radio station, called Chew On This. Kim and I have really connected over local food and healing with real foods, and I’m tickled that Kim has started this show to raise awareness about important issues in food, farming, and sustainability.

Our interview focuses on the importance of real food with an emphasis on how the work of Dr. Weston A. Price revealed the nature of the traditional diets eaten by isolated pockets of people all over the world, as well as the GAPS diet.

I can say with absolute certainty that GAPS is effective for more than just digestive issues, food allergies, chronic infections, skin problems, and fatigue. Just as the name implies – Gut and Psychology Syndrome – this protocol really can get to the root of many so-called “psychological”, “anxiety”, and “emotional” issues.

Dr. McBride talks in depth about how the GAPS syndrome encompasses conditions such as depression, hyperactivity, ADD, and even schizophrenia. From the amazing experience I’ve had, it makes perfect sense that it would be useful for those suffering with anxiety, panic, and other related issues. It’s done a world of good for me.

47 Comments

I am so glad you found GAPS. I have come to the realization that most supplements have the problems you mentioned, and that food is the way to go. Our healthy ancestors did not eat supplements. But modern food, even organic food, is often lacking in the nutrients we need because the soil is so depleted.

There are still some farms that have good soil, and produce from these farms is so good that it is hard to describe. I had a dry skin problem clear up just from eating fruit from Chaffin Family Orchards, in northern California. I do take a couple of supplements, mainly a liquid supplement full of minerals from an ancient seabed, and my favorite mineral supplement, home made bone broth.

It is so true that stress increases our need for every nutrient, And the ability to digest food and get the nutrients that are there is crucial to good health. It is clear from your experience that the GAPS diet really helped you with this, and I am grateful for this. Thank you so much for sharing what has helped you.

Stanley – thank you for your comments once again. I wish all sustainable-type farms had the good soil you describe, but I know that many of those are still lacking a great deal due to commercial farming practices polluting the whole environment, as well as other pollutants and chemicals in use. Unfortunately, Idaho is a big commercial agricultural state, and so our soils are sorely depleted. I hope the influence and pervasiveness of more sustainable farming here will slowly but surely edge that type of farming out.

Stress is certainly a major factor in health issues, and this is something almost everyone has to deal with. Stress depletes minerals, nutrients, and the very lifeforce out of us. The more you can reduce stress and take care of yourself properly, the better off you will be. This is something I strive for more and more as time goes on. This is why I now encourage everyone I know to WORK LESS. I’ve posted this on my Facebook page already a few times, and I’ll continue to do so.

GAPS really helped my two daughters with their food allergies, but it did very little for me, and, 6 months later when I noticed my metabolism was going slower and slower, my body temp dropping, and unwanted pounds actually creeping on, I decided it was not the right protocol to deal with my seasonal allergies, fatigue, and high cortisol. I am so glad it worked for you though! I really think it can help a lot of people, especially those with leaky gut and nervous problems stemming from the gut. Thank you, Dr. Natasha!

Andrea – I am so glad GAPS helped your daughters, that is really a blessing. While it’s true that GAPS may not necessarily be for everyone, I know that it has helped a great deal of people who have used it. I also think that even if you don’t follow the protocol to the letter, the foundation foods of GAPS as well as avoiding grains, starches, and sugars could help anyone no matter what their health issues are.

Also, there are other factors to consider with why GAPS might not work they way it should. Athough this may not be the case for you, I have heard from various people that GAPS didn’t work for them or wasn’t the right healing protocol, but as time went on and I gathered more information, it turned out that they weren’t actually following the protocol as closely as they needed to, and this may be why they weren’t seeing results they wanted.

Another consideration is that many people who ferment vegetables and dairy foods do not use the correct methods – it has come out recently that having oxygen present in the environment where fermentation is occurring will not produce the right kinds of bacteria. This has been scientifically proven, and one of the people who blogged about this is Kerry Ann Foster of Cooking Traditional Foods:

Dr. McBride unfortunately does not cover this topic in her book, and it would be very easy to not realize this if you had no experience (I know I didn’t).

I have talked with more than several people who did not have the success they wanted with fermentation in Mason jars, but then switched over to the Pickl-It jars and their outcomes were very different.

One other factor that might affect GAPS success is taking digestive enzymes. I was taking enzymes for a period of time, but I was taking Digest Gold and they weren’t doing me any good, not to mention are extremely expensive). Now I am taking Loomis Enzymes from Dr. Loomis, the creator of the original enzymes for human beings. These enzymes are alive and are coupled with herbal combinations to address certain issues for individual health disorders, and are very powerful due to their potency since they are living organisms. It is said that dead foods don’t promote health, and it is the same with enzymes and herbal foods. The enzymes are something I won’t be taking for long-term, but are short term in use to get the mucosal lining in my intestines healed. I have already noticed some positive changes since starting to take these enzymes in January, and this is something I will be blogging about in the future.

Though, taking every aspect into account, including the brand popularity, consumer demand, ease of development, future technology, competition, flexibility,
increasing number of users etc. SOOMLA Created a IAP
Unity Plugin that is rapidly growing in popularity. This
new age learning method is customizable as per the needs of different organisations.

On things you have no control over or on things you do. About 10 arc flashes
occur every day in the United States—and they cause disastrous consequences.
Because earthquakes can strike anywhere at any time, earthquake
safety fasteners are your best bet for protecting your electronics.

The completely unique design and style of vamp absolutely clearly
show the feminine taste of this design shoes.
If like many women you avoid wearing high heels shoes because you believe that your feet will hurt, the following tips can help you.
Thanks to their frequent references, Manolo Blahnik became a generic for high heel
shoes.

I feel this is among the most vital info for me. And
i’m glad studying your article. But wanna obseration on some common things, The site style is great, the articles is
really excellent : D. Good job, cheers

Please let me know if you’re looking for a article writer for your weblog.
You have some really great articles and I believe I would be a good asset.
If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d really
like to write some articles for your blog in exchange for a link
back to mine. Please send me an email if interested.
Kudos!

You really make it seem so easy with your presentation but
I find this matter to be really something that I think I would
never understand. It seems too complex and extremely broad for me.
I am looking forward for your next post, I’ll try to get the hang of it!

This design is incredible! You obviously know how to keep a
reader entertained. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost
moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Fantastic job.
I really loved what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it.
Too cool!